The family policing industrial complex: The shadow carceral state in sites intended for the support of families

Abstract

The US criminal punishment system, undergirded by carceral logics that center retributive punishment for all measure of offenses, has extended far beyond the walls of formal institutions of incarceration as a shadow carceral state, including into the institution of the family. Families, particularly those of color and who are low-income, face these carceral logics in systems expected to provide support and services, but that often reinforce and reproduce the criminal punishment system's structural violence and retributive responses. We contribute to the understanding of the carceral state's impact on families by conceptualizing the family policing industrial complex through a synthesis of the carcerality experienced by families in two sites—the immigration system and the child support enforcement system. We conclude by calling for the abolition of this complex, exploring transformative justice-oriented remediations of its harm found in various alternative responses to policing families.

Keywords

Carceral logics family policing immigration system child support enforcement system prison industrial complex carceral state power

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